play 
It seems so little while ago since I used in see you play- 
imi about the door of the old house, quite a small child : 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, iv. 
6. To take part in a game or games; join in 
sport or frolic : as, to play with the children. 
6. To act thoughtlessly or wantonly; trifle; 
toy; dally. 
Do not play with mine anger, do not, wretch ! 
Beau, and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, iv. 1. 
O golden hair, with which I used toplay 
Not knowing ! O Imperial-moulded form, 
And beauty such a* never woman wore. 
Tennyton, Guinevere. 
7. To act ; behave ; deal : as, to play fair or 
false. 
If she have played loose with me, I'll cut her throat. 
B. Jonton, Cynthia's Revels, Iv. 1. 
You rial/ false with us, madam 1 saw you give the 
baronet a letter. Sheridan, The Rivals, II. 2. 
8. To act on the stage ; personate a character. 
There Is a lord will hear you play to-night 
Shalt., IT of the 8., Ind., i. 93. 
Court* are theatres where some men play. Donne. 
9. To perform on an instrument of music : as, 
to play on a flute or a violin. 
With muslcke sweete that did excel! 
Hee plaiet under her window then. 
The Merchant'i Daughter (Child's Ballads, IV. 329). 
We sat round a pan of coals, and three Mahometans 
sung Arab songs, beating time with their hands, and play- 
ing on a tambour. Poeoclte, Description of the East, I. 82. 
10. To operate or act with continuous blows 
or strokes, or with repeated action: as, the 
cannon played on the enemy's works ; the fire- 
men played upon the burning building. 
Upon the seauenteenth day of Aprill (the Archduke) 
planted his Cannon against the towne, and played upon it. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 8. 
Here, as before, the Bremen were not permitted to play 
on the flames. The Century, XXXVII. 929. 
To play against the bank. See 6an*2. To play at 
duck and drake. See duo*--'. To play false. See/i<e, 
adv. To play fast and loose. See/nfi, a. To play 
for love. See Jowl. To play in, to begin at once. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.]-To play In and out*. Same 
u to play fatt and loote.T!o play into the hands of 
some one, to act in such a way a* to give the advantage 
to one's opponent or a third party. 
Why play . . . into the devil't handi 
By dealing so ambiguously? 
Browning, Ring and Book, vi. 183:!. 
To play loose. In fencing, to practise attack and defense. 
Kneye. Brit., IX. 71. To play Off, to simulate; feign, 
make pretense: as, the man is not ill, he is playing of. 
To play on or upon, (a) To make sport of ; trifle with ; 
mock ; delude ; befool, especially for advantage or through 
malice : as, to play upon one's feelings. 
Art thou alive? 
Or Is It fantasy that playt upon our eyesight? 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., v. 4. UiS. 
Is 't not enough 
That yon have played upon me all this while, 
But still to mock me, still to jest at me? 
B. Jonson, Case is Altered, iv. 5. 
You rely upon the mildness of my temper you do, 
vou dog '. you play upon the meekness of my disposition ! 
Sheridan, The Rivals, U. 1. 
(b) To give a humorous or fanciful turn to: as, to play 
upon words. 
He Jested with all ease, and told 
Free tales, and took the word and play'd upon it, 
And made it of two colours. Tennyson, Geralnt. 
To play up. (a) To work forward. (6) To play (music) 
more vigoro" sl y . To play upon advantaget, to cheat. 
To play with edged tools. See tool, and coinparc 
edge-tool. To play with fire. See fire. To Play with 
one's beard*, to deceive one. tfara. 
Yet have I play'd with hit beard, in knitting this knot 
I promist friendship, but ... I meant it not. 
R. Edwards, Damon and Pythias. 
as, I'lity a swift ball : to play the knave of clubs. 
5. To nse as a plaything; trifle or fool with. 
Some wise Men, and some Fools we call : 
Figures, alas, of Speech, for Destiny ptayii us all. 
6. To maneuver; handle or play with, as a 
hooked fish in angling. 
The river Is large and free from obstacles, and when 
you arc landed to play him, you have little to do except 
to exercise the ordinary give and take which is within the 
competence of any angler for pike or carp. 
Quarterly Ken., CXXVI. 340. 
7. To produce music from; perform upon: as, 
toplay the flute or the organ. 
The dancing-master, having to play the kit besides, was 
thoroughly blown. Dielteni, Battle of Life. 
8. To perform on a musical instrument ; exe- 
cute: as, toplay&tune. 9. Tooperateorcause 
to operate with continuous or repeated action ; 
put into and keep in action : as, toplay the hose 
on a burning building. 
The water Is brought from a river which Is lower than 
the basin; it commonly rises eighty feet, and, by playing 
another pipe, It throws the water a hundred and twenty 
feet high. Poeodce, Description of the East, II. 11. 226. 
10. To give out or discharge freely: as, to play 
a steady stream. 
In 1711 there were shown Sea Oiods and Goddesses, 
Nymphs, Mermaids, and Satire, all of them playing of wa- 
ter as suitable, and some Fire mingling with the water, 
and Sea Triumphs round the Barrel that playt so many Li- 
quors ; all which Is taken away after It had perform d its 
part and the Barrel Is broken in Pieces before the Spec- 
tators. Quoted in Ashtim's Social Life in Reign of Queen 
(Anne, I. 293. 
11. To perform or act on the stage ; represent 
in character with appropriate action and acces- 
sories: as, to play a comedy. 
Two persons plaied a dialogue, the effect whereof was 
whether riches were better than love. 
Hall, Hen. MIL, an. 152K 
The old comedies were plaid in the broad streets vpon 
wagons or cart* vncouereu. 
Pvttrnhatn, Arte of F.ng. Poesle, p. 29. 
Luscus, what ' play'd to-day? Faith now I know 
I set thy lips abroach, from whence doth flow 
Naught but pure Juliet and Romeo. 
Martton, Scourge of Villanie, xl. 37. 
12. To take or assume theroleof; act the part 
or perform the duties of; act or behave like: 
as, to play Hamlet ; to play the tyrant ; to play 
the hostess. 
I have a will, I am sure, howe'er my heart 
May pla;/ the coward. 
Beau, aiul Fl., Laws of Candy, ill. 3. 
fa play the fool by authority is wisdom. 
B. Joiunn, Poetaster, iv. 3. 
-Syn. 4. To gambol, romp, caper, irisu. 
ft. traim. 1. To divert or amuse with or as 
with sports or pastimes: used rettexively. [Ob- 
solete or prov. Eng.] 
They goon and pleye hem al the longe day. 
Chaucer, Shipman's Tale, 1. 177. 
Lete vs go for to pley w and disport* in this foreste, to 
assay yef we fynde eny W-t-g^ ^ ^ T ^ ,, L ^ 
Bot fyn I am put to a poynt that pouerte hatte, 
I schal me poruay pacyence, & play me with bothe. 
Attiteratioe Poenu (ed. MorrisX Hi. 36. 
2. To take part as a contestant in (a game or 
pastime engaged in at a particular time and 
place): also, to be in the habit of engaging hi 
(a particular kind of game), be able to join in 
(it i, or be skilled in (it): as, to play a rubber 
of whist: to [>hiy a round of golf; he does not 
/ilni/ chess, but he can play billiards. 3. To 
engage in a game, contest, or competition with. 
I will plan you for a hundred pounds. 
Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, II. xxv. 
4. To put forward, move, throw, or lay on the 
table, etc.. in carrying on a game or contest: 
Remember how thou plaited* the man at Vanity-fair, 
and wast neither afraid of the chain nor cage, nor yet of 
bloody death. Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 177. 
Why every Man plays the Fool once In his Life ; 
But to marry is playing the Fool all ones Life long 
Congreve, Old Batchelor, ill. 10. 
Neither the Pope nor the most Christian King will play 
the devil. Walpole, Letters, II. 435. 
13. To do; operate; enact; perform: as, to 
l>l>l tricks; to play a part. 
But man. proud man, . . . 
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven 
As make the angels weep. Shak., M. for M., il. 2. 121. 
No law nor justice frights 'em; all the town over 
They play new pranks and gambols. 
Fletcher, Loyal Subject, IT. 8. 
Who can call him a wise man who playeth the part of 
a Foole or a Vice? StiMx*, Anat. of Abuses. 
I have Indeed observed in several Inscriptions of this 
country that your men of learning are extremely delighted 
in nlai/iny little tricks with words and figures. 
Addison, Remarks on Italy (ed. Bohn), p. 522. 
This man had played an Important part in all the revo- 
lutions which, since the time of Surajah Dow -an, hart 
taken place in Bengal Maeaulay, Warren Hi 
14t. To use; apply; ply. 
Ylf thowwolt pleie this craft with the arlsyng of the 
mone, loke thow rekne wel her coura howre by howre. 
Chaucer, Astrolabe, 11. 40. 
15. To make a pretense of; make believe: as. 
children play being devoured by lions. 
We (merchants] may wel make chiere and good visage. 
And dryve forth the world as It may be, 
And kepen our estaat in pryvetee 
Til we be ded : or elles that we plei/e 
A pilgrymage, or goon out of the weye. 
Chaucer, Shipman's Tale, 1. 233. 
Played out (a) Played to an end; finished ; used up; 
done for. (Colloq.l 
Brown thinks to himself that after all there Is some re- 
freshing sense of the primeval about this * 
country. Fortnightly Rn.. V 8., XU1 
(i>) Exhausted and brought to land or killed, as a flsh that 
has been played.- To play bob fool*, booty, ducks 
and drakes, first (or second) fiddle, gooseberry, hob. 
hooky, et.-. 'See/ooll, (K<./, dudft,M3le etc -To play 
Off, to display : show : as. to play of tricks. -To playoff 
a person, to exhibit or expose a person for the entertain- 
play 
ment or merriment of other*.- To play one false. 
talte. To play possum. See pnamn.- To play tl 
deuce or dickens. See deucel, diclceiu.- To play the 
devil the fool, the hangment, the mischief, etc., 
with. See the noun*.- To play up, to start or begin 
playing; strike up. 
Play uppe The Brides of Enderby. 
Jean IngAaw, High Tide on the Cr*t of Lincolnshire. 
play 1 (pla), M. [< ME. play, plry, pleye, i>Mr, 
plege, also />/KV, plahe, plage, < AH. plena, brisk 
motion, play, sport, game, also fight, battle 
(cf. OFries. plrga, pliya, custom, habit, prac- 
tice, MU5. pleije, care, custom, a\so plaae, 1A>. 
pleae, OHG. phleaa, MHO. phlege, nflege, CJ. 
pfleije, care, nursing, custom, etc., Icel. plaa, 
manner, Dan. pleje, nursing, tendance, care, 
maintenance, cultivation, encouragement, ad- 
ministration, etc.) ; from the verb: tieeplayi, r.J 
1. Brisk or free motion; movement, whether 
regular or irregular: as, the play of water in a 
fountain; the play of a wheel or piston; hence, 
freedom or room for motion. 
The play and slight agitation of the water, In it* upward 
gush, wrought magically with these variegated pebbles 
Uauihorne, Seven (iahle*, vl. 
The saw, with restless play, 
Was cleaving through a flr-trec 
It* long and steady way. Bryant. Saw-Mill. 
Any play or lost motion between the threads of the cross- 
feed screw and it* nut 
Jothua Jlote. Practical Machinist, p. 34. 
2. Liberty and room for action or display : 
scope; sw'ing; ease or freedom In performance. 
Give him (the chub) play enough before yon offer to 
take him out of the water. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. . 
He dares not give his Imagination Its full play. 
Additon, Spectator, No. sift. 
The Mercian scribes appear to have been very excellent 
penmen, writing a very graceful hand with much delicate 
play In the strokes. Kncyc. fin*., XVIII. !... 
3. Action; use; employment. 
The senseless plea of right by Providence 
Wa* by a flattering priest Invented since. 
And lasts no longer than the recent sway, 
But justifies the next who conies In play. 
Dryden, Character of a (food Parson. 1. 120. 
Every kind of vehicle Is brought into play on this da> 
to carry people down who prefer to drive over the mag- 
nificent country roads between London and Epsom. 
T. C. Crawford, English Life, p. !.->. 
4. Active exercise; especially, exercise in trial 
of skill: as. swonl-ptay. 5. Any exercise in- 
tended for recreation, amusement, or pleasure ; 
a game or sport, such as cricket, foot-ball, curl- 
ing, skittles, quoits, graces, etc. 
And snchc pUyet of desport thel make, til the takynge 
up of the Boordes. Mandcmtte, Travels, p. 2 
They say that this Philosopher (Lycurgus] did Inuent 
the Olympiades, which were certeine playei vsed euery 
fourth yeere in the mounteine Olympus. 
Guevara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577X p. 21. 
Sec that plaiet be published, 
Mai-games and maskes, with mlrthc and minstrelsie, 
Pageants and school-feastes, beares and puppet-pfai/-. 
Three Lordt of London, In Strutt's Sports and Pastimes. 
(p. 32. 
The playt of children are nonsense, but very educative 
nonsense. Emerton, Experience. 
6. Amusement, diversion, recreation, or pas- 
time; sport; frolic; fun: merry-making: as, 
"all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. 
Al the lose of cure herte nou is went a-wey, 
For into serwe * Into wo tornld Is al oure pley. 
Political Poenu, etc. (ed. FumivallX p. 282. 
Come forth than, my maidens, an show them some play. 
Baron of BraiMey (Child's Ballads, VI. 194). 
A tiger ... by chance hath spied 
In some purlieu two gentle fawns at play. 
Hilton, P. L, Iv. 404. 
But the Instinct of play and the desire for amusement 
Is not exhausted In childhood. 
J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. 388. 
7. Fun; jest; sport: opposed to earnest: as, 
it was done in play. 8. Gaming; the practice 
of contending for amusement, or for wager, as 
at dice, cards, billiards, etc. : as, to lose money 
at play. 
They [the gamesters] will change the cards so often that 
the old ones will be a considerable advantage by selling 
them to coffee-houes, or families who love play. 
Svift, Directions to Servant* (Butler). 
What are they to do who love play better than wine? 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, Hi. 3. 
A sportsman keen, he shoots through half the day, 
AndVskill'd at whist, devotes the night .to play. 
Crabbe, W orks, I. IS. 
He left his wine and horses and play. 
Tennyton, Maud, xix. 7. 
9. A dramatic composition: a literary compo- 
sition in which characters are represented by 
dialogue and action: a written tragedy, <'<>in- 
edy, or other such production intended for rep- 
resentation on the stage. 
